I Don't Do Parties
by GhettoGorgeousGangstaGirl
Summary: Stark Resilient is just starting to take off and Tony is finally seeing his dream of sustainable energy come together. Now he just needs to market it. He enlists the help of one of the top names of fashion and commercial photography, or at least he tries to, but their first meeting doesn't exactly go according to plan. Unfortunately for her Tony Stark doesn't give up that easily.
1. Chapter 1

(Finally getting this one off the ground. I've been thinking about this story for ages.

Now I'm sure I said this before but in case I didn't, for anyone out there keeping track, I prefer to work in more ambiguous time line for this reason we'll say my stories take place on Earth... 845. It's not really anything you need to remember I'm just hoping that removing the continuity of Earth 616 from the equation some of you will be less incline to stubbornly correct my "mistakes" regarding timelines and events. It's not really a problem I've had here but on other sites it has gotten... more then a little annoying. So now I'm playing the Multiverse card though not too strongly

So I think what I'm doing here is mashing the movies and comics together. Everything past the Avengers movie has happened -no Ironman 3 because I don't approve of their use of their fake Mandarin Instead of the Events of Ironman three I'm using the Extrmis story line from the comics aplicable parts of his fight with Zeke Stane and The Mandarin from Invincible Ironman- But instead of the Chitouri invasion we're looking at a Skrull invasion -because Skrull are better- Kind of like a smaller Secret Invasion still headed by Loki and centralized within SHIELD that lead to the larger invasion also now there are Skrull hiding on Earth because they don't have a hivemind. The Civil War and Initiative didn't happen, or haven't happened yet because Nitro did not blow up that Stanford. Instead of Fighting Trevor and Killian Murphy is he did in Ironman 3 Tony I will be using the Extremis Story line from the comics is conjunction with Zeke Stane and Justine Hammer of much more recent comics. He deals with Zeke and the Mandarin after dealing with Extremis and this story will be taking place sometime withing the Stark Resiliant Storyarc so he will be contending with Justin and Justine Hammer instead of Justine and Sasha.

Now I'm working under the assumption that you guys read the comics and I know some of you don't. Now most of this information won't actually impact that story itself so it's really more for me to keep things organize, so don't fret! Also Wikipedia and I are more then happy to clear up any confusion!)

"Tony, you're going to be late! Again." Pepper called for the third time that morning. "You have a meeting to get to in less then an hour."

The millionaire rolled his eyes from the safety of his workshop. Again with the meetings. At first the return to normalcy had been welcome after the train wreck his life had become thanks to the Skrull and Stane, but it didn't take long for him to remember why he spent much of his time trying to ditch them.

"Can I cancel?" He asked as his workshop door slid open and Pepper walked in.

"You've already canceled three times." She answered, patience running thin. "You can't keep canceling. Eventually you're going to run out of excuses."

Tony's shoulders slumped and he gave an over dramatic sigh. It didn't look like there was anyway out of this. "Fine. Well if I'm going to this meeting what are you doing today?" His question carried an accusatory tone as if there was even a chance that Pepper didn't have anything for herself on the never ending to-do list.

It was her turn to roll her eyes. "I am going to be working the advertising campaign _you _wanted but have yet to actually think about. Which is why we have to go! I'm meeting with a photographer... about the photo shoot!" She said as if it were supposed to mean something to him. Obviously by the look on his face it didn't.

"With Sarah Sulivan! Honestly, Tony. I told you about this a week ago. You n-"

"Trade you!"

"What?"

"I'll trade you." He repeated, snatching the clipboard from his assistance hands. "You go to my meeting

I'll go to yours." If he was going to go to any meetings at all he would at least get the interesting one.

"Tony, I can't go to your meeting." Pepper protested but the genious wasn't interested. He's already made up his mind on the matter and he was going to get his way.

"Sure you can. You've taken my place plenty of times."

"That's not the point!" She had no choice but to watch as Tony found her notes on the time and location of her meeting. He removed the scrap of paper from the clipboard, folded it up, and tucked it away in his pocket as he walked past her and out of the workshop.

"Tony!" Pepper called after, knowing the situation was hopeless from the start.

"You better hurry up, Pep." Tony called over his should. "You have a meeting in less then an hour."

"Good shoot today, Candy." Sarah muttered as she packed up her equipment. Her tone didn't sound sincere, it rarely did, but it had actually been a very good shoot. Candy's always were. Candy didn't fuss or complain or try to add in her two cents. She simply did as she was told and trusted Sarah to do what she was being paid to do and make her look stunning on film. If only more models could be like Candy.

"Thanks bunches, Sarah." Candy chirped, pulling the photographer into a hug she didn't return. "You're the best."

"I know." She answered matter-of-factly. "That's why you pay me."

"Sure is! Am I the last one?" The model asked hopefully.

Sarah cringed internally, she already knew where this was going, but fortunately Candy was not her last appointment of the day. "No. I have a conference in 10 minutes with a potential client."

"Aw. Too bad." Candy cooed. "Melly's in town. We though it would be nice to have dinner. Just us girls."

Hearing that Sarah almost physically cringed. She liked Candy well enough, a cute bubbly blonde, only a few inches shorter then Sarah herself, who got a lucky break early in her modeling career and was trying hard not to let it change her. A promise many before her had failed to keep. Though she wouldn't call Candy her friend, the younger girl would disagree. To Sarah they were... familiar acquaintances at best. Melinda however, Sarah disliked a great deal. Melinda had been a mean girl in highschool who had decided to make Sarah her 'pet project', something she'd wanted nothing to do with. Then one day about two years ago 'Miss Melly Fabulous', as her lackeys called her on her insistence, walked into her studio rocking the same fake red hair she'd had their senior year and the cycle started anew. Sarah might reluctantly have lunch or dinner with Candy from time to time but she had no intentions of ever spending time with Melinda if no one was paying her.

"Maybe next time." Sarah half-heartedly promised.

Candy sighed. "Well alright. I gotta go! I can't wait to see those shots!"

"You'll have them next week." She assured the young model as she bounced out the door.

With a sigh of relief Sarah set about tearing down the set up that had been created for Candy's photo shoot. At her level she was sure most would have hired people to handle the set up and tear down of things like this but she had her reasons for doing it herself. Partly it was so she wouldn't have to pay anyone to do it, mostly it was because she didn't want to deal with anyone else in her studio besides herself and those paying her.

It didn't take her very long. The shoot had been simple. Candy had just wanted a few quick shots to pad her portfolio. Depending on the models those could take anywhere between several hours of exasperation to just a few quick shots. Candy was always easy and wasn't the type for excessive glamor in her personal shoots. Her sessions never took long, two hours at most including make-up and changes. Sarah appreciated her for that.

"Mr Sullivan?" Sarah looked up from the seat she'd taken at her desk at her secretary, the younger sister of one of her favorite make-up artists that she's hired as a favor, a frail looking ginger girl who looked like the wind could carry her away. The girl wanted to follow in her sisters foot steps and they figured that working for one of the nations most sought after fashion and commercial photographers was a good way to get her foot in the door.

"Yes, Donna-Vaughn?" Sarah prodded. The girl looked shaken. She was paler then usual and her eyes were wide.

"To-" She paused and glanced at something behind her. Sarah quirked a brow and after a moment Donna came back. "You're 4 o'clock is here."

"Send her in." Sarah sighed, and turned back to her computer. When she's gotten the call from the newly recovered Stark Industries, now going by Stark Resilient to mark they're official leave from weapons manufacturing, she had been less then ecstatic but that could be said for most of the calls she received so she had no true reason not to hear them out.

"You know, I thought this place would be bigger."

Sarah froze. That didn't sound like the woman she's spoken to on the phone. The photographer spun around in her chair and found none other then Tony Stark idly looking about her now mostly barren studio. The millionaire flashed his, no doubt, thousand watt smile and approached her arm outstretched for a handshake. "I'm-"

"You're not Mrs Potts." She stated

Stark faltered for a moment. That wasn't the reaction who usually got from women, or anyone really. This may have been the first time it happened, but he recovered quickly. Looking down at himself the tinman smirked and looked down at himself. "Well, would you look at that." He said as if just noticing himself.

"This appointment was for Patricia Potts." Sarah insisted.

Tony shrugged in a very 'nothing I can do' kind of way. "Not anymore."


	2. Chapter 2

This couldn't be happening. Sarah stared at Tony Stark who looked so relaxed, so nonchalant. He had no way of knowing that he may as well have single-handedly ruined her life. At least that's what it felt like. She had been mentally preparing herself all day to meet Pepper Potts. The idea of having someone she'd never met in her studio for the first time was hard enough now she learns that the person she'd been gearing up to speak with was the wrong person entirely. Patricia "Pepper" Potts and Anthony Edward Stark were two _very _different people and she was not ready for this. She had barely been ready for Pepper.

"Hey, you okay?" His voice pulled her from her thoughts and she let out and breath that she didn't know she was holding.

"I'm fine." She snapped more harshly the necessary as she pushed away from her desk and moved a few paces away from the millionaire. She needed to breathe she needed to put some distance between the them. A sigh escaped her as she pretended to sort through some photo's while she tried to get herself under control. "So what can I do for you, Mr Stark?"

"Call me Tony. Pepper didn't tell you?"

"Nothing specific." This had already gone on for far too long.

"You know this will be a Commercial job, right?"

"Yes." She responded, obviously exasperated. This wasn't her first time around the block. "The new Stark Resilient message of green energy and making a better tomorrow. All that."

"Right." Tony agreed. That was a bit of a simplification but he'd let it slide for now. "Starting with our repulsor energy powered car."

"Sounds easy enough. Location?"

"Stark Resilient." She could hear the implied 'duh'.

"This binder contains the head shots of every model I would recommend... take look an-"

"Right, yeah. These are good." Tony said, flipping through the first few pages. "Some of them are great girls," Sarah forced herself not to react. "But I've already go someone in mind."

Sarah froze. Someone else. She hated working with new models. "Oh yeah? Who's that?"

Stark placed a hand on his chest partially blocking the glow from the Arc Reactor coming through his suit. "Me."

Suddenly the tension seemed to leave her body all at once and her anxiety dissipated. Her stance changed from defensive to aggressive. If he hadn't been watching her closely the whole time Tony would have missed the transformation completely.

"No." She said dismissively, pulling her binder from his hands and moving to place it back on the table.

"No?" Tony said, disbelief clear in his voice as he followed close behind her. "Why not?"

Sarah rounded on him and fixed him with a hard gaze. "I don't work with armatures."

Tony gave a laugh of pure disbelief, this is not the reaction he was accustomed to. "I am not an ame-"

"Having you're picture taken does not make you a model Mr. Stark."

"Tony." She ignored him.

"I. Do not. Work. With Armatures."

He looked down at her, arms folded over his chest. She was tall, nearly matching his 6'1" at 5'10", thin, small hips and chest. Willowy was the best way to describe it. The pure definition of an ectomorphic body type if there ever was one. Her long ash brown hair was pulled into a tight high ponytail and she carried a surprising tan for someone rumored to rarely leave her studio.

This wasn't over yet. Tony flashed her a confident smirk, "You're sure there's nothing I can do to," reached out to pull her closer. "Change you're- mind..." He faltered when she jerked out of his reached.

Once again she held up the binder. "You can pick a professional."

He pushed it back to her. "That's not going to happen."

"Well then, we're done here Mr. Stark."

"Tony."

"We are done here, _Mister. Stark_" She repeated for forcefully. She threw the binder back into a drawer in her desk and stalked over to the door. The message was clear as she held it upon. It was time for him to leave. For a moment she though he was going to protest but complied after a moment of thought. He offered her a good-bye and left her studio.

Sarah exhaled deeply and fell back against the door. That had been exhausting. She would not be doing that again for a while.

The moment he stepped out of the studio his phone went off. Tony didn't have to check to know it was Pepper. There was no way her meeting, formerly his, was over yet so they must have been taking a break.

"Hey, Pep." He greeted. "How's the meeting."

"Tell me you got her." Pepper started in immediately. She clearly didn't trust him to get this done and so far she was right.

"Not yet." He said casually.

"Not yet!? Tony, what did you do?" Pepper asked in dismay. "Do you have any idea how long it took me to get that meeting? She doesn't _do_ meetings, Tony!"

"Don't worry, Pep. I've got it under control."

Oddly enough this didn't seem to do much to calm the woman's nerves. "No. You don't do anything else. I will handle it when I get b-"

"Pepper. Pep. Calm down. I'll handle it." He glanced up at the calendar the receptionist had hanging above her desk. His eyes locked on the circled date. "I have a plan."


End file.
